


False Dawn

by misura



Category: Clover
Genre: Community: springkink, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-02
Updated: 2012-05-02
Packaged: 2017-11-04 17:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/396507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keeping promises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	False Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: _Ran/Gingetsu: keeping a promise - You know who I was born to be_
> 
> quotes taken from volume 4

_'Do you love me?'_

_'Yes.'_

 

The money, Lieutenant Commander Gingetsu decided, had been good. Would have been good.

Would be good, assuming they'd let Ran keep his apartment (which was unlikely, really; a Three-leaf, living all by himself? The Council would never stand for it; at best, they'd not put him back in the cage, find someone else to care for him, a Zero-leaf, so to speak, although why anyone would volunteer for the job was anyone's guess; Ran had never gone out, didn't know of anyone who might want to -

 

_'More than anything?'_

_'Yes.'_

 

\- to take on that kind of trouble, even if, really, Ran had never been any trouble at all, always behaving like anyone's idea of the perfect housemate, or wife, even, possibly; Gingetsu'd had to teach him how to cook, of course; no reason anyone should have taught him things like that in the cage, which seemed just slightly short-sighted in hindsight, honestly; it was a useful skill, cooking.

He liked to think he hadn't taught Ran about sex, although in truth, he probably had. Kazuhiko had been right about him all along, really, and here he was, not even feeling sorry about it or regretting having perverted someone who -

 

_'Forever?'_

_'Yes.'_

 

\- who would never live long enough to become an adult the way most people defined the term: in years, rather than in experience, which might not justify anything; Kazuhiko'd never have let him get away with such a feeble excuse, but Kazuhiko was - well.

These things happened.

 

_'If you break that promise - '_

 

The sky seemed lighter, somehow; dawn, most likely, although he'd have thought that would still be several hours off, so possibly this whole dying thing was screwing with his perception of time - a mercy, most likely, all things considered; who would want to take hours dying and experience every second of them? And with nobody else around to keep him company, either, unless you counted the Special Ops people who were supposedly still out there, possibly looking for him, to make sure they'd done a proper job of finishing him off. As they had, obviously, but he was just petty enough to want to leave them with some doubt; they deserved it, for piling up on him like that.

Granted, if there had been fewer of them, their ambush might not have worked.

 

_'If you break that promise - '_

 

So. Taking stock. He was dead, or dying; Ran was dying, or back in the cage (almost as bad as dead, or maybe worse); all the money in his retirement fund would most likely revert to the Council, which was fine, really; dead people had little use for money, only he'd always sort of hoped he'd get to use it some day.

He wished he could be absolutely, completely certain he hadn't been set up. Bad luck was one thing; it happened to everyone, and some days, you just had to wonder what you'd done to deserve it all, only there was such a thing as too much, too soon.

Ran would be hurt, when they told him. They'd be matter of fact about it, probably - kindness, of a sort, perhaps, to just spit it out, get it over with. A quicker death, and cleaner.

 

_'I will kill again.'_

 

"You're not dead," Ran said, sounding not particularly pleased about it, which wasn't like Ran at all; Kazuhiko's teasing aside (and Ora's, too; the two of them were as bad as it got, really, and he wouldn't have traded the two of them for anyone but Ran) - Gingetsu felt sure that he was loved.

His lips were dry, but at least they didn't hurt.

It was very quiet. He smelled dust, faintly, and tasted a familiar metallic taste. Things looked darker again, as if it had become night once more.

"You're not Ran," he said. His right arm felt heavy, as if it was being held down; no pain, just a lot of pressure. It occured to him he was still wearing his sunglasses: as good an explanation for the returned darkness as any, and less depressing than some.

"You gave him a _name_?" not-Ran asked. He sounded angry. The pressure on Gingetsu's arm increased.

"I can give one to you, too," Gingetsu offered, before his mind could catch up with his mouth. He was supposed to be smarter than this, colder. A perfect Two-leaf, dangerous, but obedient. Not like Kazuhiko.

Not-Ran scoffed. "Why would I want a name?"

"No reason."

"What would I do with it? I'm all alone - except for C."

"Ran," Gingetsu said, firmly. Like talking to a child. Like he had any idea of how to talk to a child.

"I killed a lot of people to save your life."

"Thank you."

Not-Ran glared at him. "I didn't do it for you. I only did it because C - because _Ran_ would be sad if you'd died. He'd promised he'd always love me more than anything."

"Then I'm sure he will," Gingetsu said. "Ran always keeps his promises."

Not-Ran stared at him for a moment. "I'm not going to let the Council kill you either, you know."

Gingetsu would have said that, frankly, it didn't much matter what a Three-leaf decided; only a Four-leaf possessed that sort of power, but he blacked out for a moment - five seconds, tops, and then he was back at his apartment, with Ran - the real Ran, bending over him, expression worried.

 

_'If you die, I will kill whoever it is that let you die.'_


End file.
